Students urged to apply for CAO before reduced fee deadline
Three Of Their One First While Of Courses Choice Their Offer Preferred Nearly In Received Received Top 60% Students 85% 2023,
Students looking to apply to the CAO are being urged to get in their applications before the reduced fee deadline.
Those who apply before Saturday, January 20, will be able to avail of the reduced fee of €30.
Any applications made after that date will have to pay the standard fee of €45.
Nearly 60% of students received their first choice offer in 2023, while 85% received one of their top three preferred courses.
Further and Higher Education Minister Simon Harris said applying early “does not require you to have course choices finalised”.
“Applying early means a small saving for you and your family,” he said.
“You do have the opportunity to add and remove courses when the change of mind facility opens later in the year.
“Having to choose your courses can be a stressful and worrying task for some, as any start thinking about what they want to study and what they want to become in the years ahead.”
It follows Mr Harris’ announcement last month where some €17m in funding was allocated for apprenticeships in the higher education sector.
Some 132 additional apprentice craft training blocks will be delivered across Munster Technological University, South East Technological University, Dundalk Institute of Technology, Technological University of the Shannon and Atlantic Technological University.
This will see additional capacity for crafts including plumbing, pipefitting, refrigeration, and air conditioning.
A further 17 new apprenticeship programmes have been proposed for this year, including four in the area of construction, while a further six in areas such as firefighting and paramedics are in development.
The proposal, announced last week, show that the number of people doing apprenticeships increased to 27,470, with 8,712 new registrations made in 2023. Of those, 6,588 are in the craft area.
The new apprenticeship programmes are intended to start from mid-2024 and later in the academic year.